Very disillusioned Superb owner

[unionfan]

I've gone from being a happy Superb owner to a very disappointed one in two days flat...

 

Having chosen our Superb in August 2012 based on as much research as we could into economy, performance, specs, trims, power and resale values it's 40,000 miles later and time to sell on.

 

I've been offered between £4,600 and £4,800 for a 2009 (59) 1.8 FSI with only 55,000 miles, 7-speed DSG and a full service history when we paid nearly £12,000 in August 2015.  Even the Skoda dealer we bought it from agreed that values have unexpectedly tumbled and that the salesman was acting in good faith when he sold us the car (positioning it positively against other alternatives).

 

Now wish we hadn't bought it and never expected to lose so much on an award-winning Skoda.  Will be my last. :(

 

Anyone else have any thoughts or experiences to share please?

 

 

 

[Richf]

We got £6k for our 86,000 mile 09 plate back in March , diesels will always hold their residuals better though but hour valuation seems low , have you tried WBAC ?

[Coops]

Do you own research on Autotrader or Parkers and see what the market is actually doing.

 

Dealer needs to make a profit out of the sale somewhere but there will be movement, it's not always the P/X value that bothers me but more the "cost of change".

 

Parkers is suggesting £4580 on part ex.

[eagerv]

Unfortunately this happens when a complete new design is on the way. One of the reasons VW normally evolve their designs rather than change them completely.

 

On the other hand, the present Superb is a good buy at the moment, with massive discounts being offered.

The only advise I can give the OP is to hold on to your car, as I intend doing for a number of years.

[Superb170]

The 'cost of change' as Coops mentions is a very valid point.  Dealers can often bluff their way around a deal by offering a high trade-ins and then trying to screw you on the actual cost of the car you're buying.  I'd be worried about the trade-in price for my Superb II when it comes to changing.  I got a decent price last time but I do worry that a new model with more dramatic styling change will impact on residuals.  Mercedes is another company where it has tried to make more subtle changes to each model in an effort to preserve resale values and it has probably worked well to an extent.

 

Not much consolation to the OP I know - perhaps the fact that it has the 7 speed box may be impacting on values as well due to known issues with that particular box?

[Yeti_Man]

If you were placing so much importance on the future retained value of the vehicle and did do your research (as you suggest), then im really surprised you chose a car with the 1.8TSi lump and the dry 7 speed dsg - the worst performing in the range at the time and also now. Having the new one available to order certainly doesn't help your case. Paying 5k for that car is going to make someone very happy though! 

[joeboy1980]

Depreciation can be eye watering which is inevitable! With regards to SII, Diesel + DSG + high spec + FSH should hold value slightly better than Petrol versions.

 

The dealers will always come up with something to let you down and that's their job unfortunately. If it had been a Ford or Vauxall......oh my goodness I can't believe how bad it would be. 

 

I recently went through this when I gave away my SII Elegance 4x4 manual and went for DSG L&K.....but any car you buy in this segment/price, this is exactly what happens. So, I personally wouldn't change the brand for this.

[JakeBlade]

Depreciation of £2,400/yr sounds pretty good to me.

[StuartTunstall]

When I purchased my Superb last year my 4 1/2 year old Seat Exeo 2.0TDI 170 Sport Tech with all the toys and 22000 mles on the clock was worth £10000 against the £32000 I paid for the Superb... bear in mind this was £24000 when I purchase it new in November 2010 swapped in June 2015 ... thats £3100/year so £2400/year is not bad.... 

 

I work in the motor trade so I knew the value of my car before I went to the dealer so I knew to expect £10000, in fact I tell them what I expect... 

 

I want this car.... 

I have this car... 

I want this for it.... 

 

In fact I got this plus a £1000 off the Superb so I suppose I got £11000 in fact... 

 

Dealers, as said need to make money, so they will try it on... can you blame them... No! I would do the same, but if you do your homework and stand firm you may get a better deal, or try another dealer..

 

I did look at a "pre registered" Range Rover Sport, almost £50000 they offered me £8000 for the Exeo..... So I stuck with the VAG Group.... Range Rover next

[kevin defty]

Have a look at pch if you are worried about future trade in values. I've gone down that route after massive depreciation on my insignia, almost as much as your loss over 3 years in 15 months with my high mileage. At the moment they are doing cracking prices for superb 2 , limited colour choice as they are no longer in production, on pch

[mannyo]

The sad fact is that with new model now available to order, and having the most undesirable version of the Superb its value is going to continue to plummet. Same thing happens when completely new models come out. The new Superb is far more than just a facelift, its a completely different car.

[StuartTunstall]

My first new car was a Citroen Saxo, paid £8000 for it in 2000, did 24000 miles in just over 12 months and it was worth £4000 when I purchased my first Seat Ibiza in 2001 ! Never buy another French car.... Since I have owned my 6-7 Seats I have always done well on the trade in front.. 

[Ootohere]

You buy a used car and a Dealership want a profit on what they paid for the car, you maybe paid too much towards them getting a profit.

Now the car has more miles,

is older and they are offering you low,

and looking to see a profit when it sells to the next buyer.

 

If you do not want to give Profits to others and feed the mouths of Used Car Dealers and their employees and dependants buy Private,

go to Auctions and buy cars like Car Dealers need to.

If you want to buy from Dealers & get Dealers Services it costs money.

[lichfielddriver]

Mondeo 130PS Mk3 cost £4450 ran it for over 4 years, did 150,000 miles in it

 

Cost about £3000 in service and repairs

 

Got £1150 for it October 2013

 

 

 

Chevrolet Epica 2009 2ltr cost me £3800, did 55,000 miles in 18 months, £1400 in service/repairs/tyres got £1650 for it in April

 

BUT, in March alone i took what it cost me, in the one month..........ideal car!

[lichfielddriver]

I've gone from being a happy Superb owner to a very disappointed one in two days flat...

 

Having chosen our Superb in August 2012 based on as much research as we could into economy, performance, specs, trims, power and resale values it's 40,000 miles later and time to sell on.

 

I've been offered between £4,600 and £4,800 for a 2009 (59) 1.8 FSI with only 55,000 miles, 7-speed DSG and a full service history when we paid nearly £12,000 in August 2015.  Even the Skoda dealer we bought it from agreed that values have unexpectedly tumbled and that the salesman was acting in good faith when he sold us the car (positioning it positively against other alternatives).

 

Now wish we hadn't bought it and never expected to lose so much on an award-winning Skoda.  Will be my last. :(

 

Anyone else have any thoughts or experiences to share please?

 

 

Stick in Ebay (costs £30) theres hardly any petrol Superbs on there so you may get lucky, worth a punt

 

Emphasise  the EU anti-diesel stance.....lol

Edited 5 June, 2015 by lichfielddriver

[lichfielddriver]

All garages and dealers now put a p/x car straight on the trades own mini "autotrader" for bids from traders, then compare it with the Glass's guide

[numskull]

When will people realise that unless you keep a vehicle in a dehumidified garage, and totally concourse for 40+ years, it'll just depreciate to zilch. Yes.... a Ford Cortina 1600E in concourse will fetch 10 times its original sticker if unmolested.. Ok albeit that's only £15k... but...... And hears the rub... These are not houses; these are not hand made; these are not in any way considered to be classica; these are not Ferrari 250 GTO California.... Oh and 100%, these are not 246 Dino, (imho the prettiest Ferrari ever made). But sod it.... I'm keeping my "terrible" 2.0 TDi MKI Superb with 124k cos I bloody well like it.... and I'll probably do the same with our MKII too.

[lichfielddriver]

The worst depreciation has always been on big "smokers" especially jags....oh my days.....never buy a new one...lol

[lichfielddriver]

Although only 2nd out of 10...

 

VW Phaeton

A stalwart of lists like this since its launch, the Phaeton may wrap Bentley-esque luxury in an appealing discreet package, but there's no subtlety about its scant disregard for your wallet.

And we're not talking about some irrelevantly big-engined petrol version here: if you'd bought a £55k Phaeton diesel a year ago it would now be worth just 39.5 per cent of that, or around £22k.

If you're feeling particularly schadenfreude, you'll be delighted to know that equates to £91.70 a day. Ouch

[Bristolf2b]

I had an Audi A4 that depreciated at nearly £5000 a year over the four years I owned it. If my Superb does £2500 a year over the four years I intend to keep it,then I'll be quite happy compared to that.

The main reason I went to Skoda was that the Superb Cost approximately the same at 6 month/6000 miles as the depreciation I lost on the Audi. The Audi dealer suggested that the Superb depreciated at a greater percentage then an equivalent Audi, (not sure that was the case tbh). My argument was that the Superb was not going to be worth nothing at 5 years old, so anything above that meant I was better off than buying another Audi assuming the same eyewatering loss.

The Audi cost me approximately 40p /mile in depreciation alone. Your Superb has cost you 18p/mile. The Audi may have been a slightly nicer environment to be in and certainly had a nicer motor (3.0 V6 Tdi) but it wasn't anything like 22p/mile nicer.

Edited 8 June, 2015 by Bristolf2b

[hamro]

Always a problem, particularly if you buy new. Interesting point about diesels having better residuals, guess this could change soon with all the bad publicity regarding pollution levels and the market flooded with used diesels.

[Nathanio]

Fabia vRS lost us £275 a year in depreciation yet my Octavia was £2000 a year depreciation. Similar years and similar mileages.

[Zukabak]

It's swings and roundabouts for people buying 2nd hand though isn't it?

My Superb (CR170 DSG Elegance) was £27750+ options just over two years ago at a dealership. I paid £14550 for it, 34k miles and still with a year's worth of Skoda warranty etc.. 

 

So you've only lost £2500 a year, where as it'd be losing £6500 a year new, which is the kind of saving you'd made by buying it 2nd hand.

[numskull]

It's swings and roundabouts for people buying 2nd hand though isn't it?

My Superb (CR170 DSG Elegance) was £27750+ options just over two years ago at a dealership. I paid £14550 for it, 34k miles and still with a year's worth of Skoda warranty etc.. 

 

So you've only lost £2500 a year, where as it'd be losing £6500 a year new, which is the kind of saving you'd made by buying it 2nd hand.

Yep and that is why I never have bought a brand-new car... you literally burn cash. Mind you, I really wish I had bought that McLaren F1 now though....

[laujen]

I bought a Superb 2009 1.8 TSi Elegance DSG   a couple of weeks ago. Reading all the comments above it seems that I couldn't have chosen a worse model ??

 

I don't really use the car during the week (work in London so use the train every day) So economy wasn't that great an issue for me as it will be used  just at weekends mainly which is another reason why I thought petrol would be better than diesel?.  Truth is I love the car, I had an Avensis hatchback and before that  a Passat which I loved. Trouble is after having the hatchback I couldn't go back to a boot so when Skoda came along with the twin boot I thought it was brilliant idea. My elegance is black with cream leather and I find the acceleration pretty good compared to my 1.8 Avensis (auto also). I love the car and when I read some reviews on the 1.8 TSi there was no mention of gearbox problems. The car has currently done 78k and will be lucky to do 5k a year from now on.